1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a robot and an action deciding method for deciding the action of the robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there has been proposed a robot which autonomously acts in accordance with ambient information (external elements) and internal information (internal elements). For example, such a robot is exemplified by a so-called pet robot as a robot device in the format of an animal, a mimic organism, or a virtual organism displayed on a display or the like of a computer system.
The above-described robot devices can autonomously act, for example, in accordance with a word or an instruction from a user. For example, the Japanese Publication of Unexamined Patent Application No. H10-289006 discloses a technique of deciding the action on the basis of pseudo emotions.
Meanwhile, all the conventional robot devices react in the same manner to every user. That is, the robot devices react uniformly to different users and do not change their reactions depending on the users.
If the robot devices identify the users and react differently to the different users, it is possible to enjoy interactions with each user
Thus, in view of the foregoing status of the art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a robot which reacts differently to different users, and an action deciding method for the robot.
A robot according to the present invention comprises: detection means for detecting information of a user; identification means for identifying one user from a plurality of identifiable users on the basis of the information of the user detected by the detection means; and action control means for manifesting an action corresponding to the one user identified by the identification means.
In the robot having such a structure, one user is identified from a plurality of identifiable users by the identification means on the basis of the information of the user detected by the detection means, and an action corresponding to the one user identified by the identification means is manifested by the action control means.
Thus, the robot identifies one user from a plurality of identifiable users and reacts corresponding to the one user.
An action deciding method for a robot according to the present invention comprises the steps of identifying one user from a plurality of identifiable users on the basis of information of the user detected by detection means, and manifesting an action corresponding to the identified one user.
In accordance with this action deciding method for a robot, the robot identifies one user from a plurality of identifiable users and reacts corresponding to the one user.